Chuck Foghorn Lilo Jill Wally Emma Ladybird Hashgate Sticky Dicky Gulab Ja Moon and friends Bill The Cuddles Cap’n Haystax C5 Cheating Chopstix The Tremblers 2Bob Puddleduck Heidi Le Voisin et chien TinOpener Miranda Hans Bomber Potty Nutcracker Sue Shep Jan Daisy NipponTuck Ms. Whiplash LaybyLil Eth Cheating Lonely Arkle Beaver Whinge Gusset Dumper Greenfly BGB Baldrick Cloggs Hamlet Fukawe Jake BigSpender Skidmark Richard Nick John BoPeep Jason TT3 Dribbler Mr. Mainwaring Squelchy….plus a goodly contingent of NH³.

Following a brief introduction by C5 the hares asked us, so kindly, to check it out. We did. From above it must have been like a people bomb going off. Everyone shot off in all directions. Fresh of leg, eyes gleaming with Hasher’s fervour, we sped hither and thither, criss-crossing each other’s tracks, meeting people running in the opposite direction, tripping over roots and dogs in equal quantity. I’m sure Chuck and Foghorn must have been delighted with the initial arboreal mayhem they had created. We eventually found the out trail and were duly confused more by some crafty checks which had the real trail branching off from falses. BoPeep took enormous delight in stumbling (quite literally) on one of these and leading the pack for all of a vainglorious forty five seconds during which time he blew his own trumpet even more then the Dizzy Gillespie clone of NH³. Shep, at this point, was actually spotted running fairly well until he and BGB were caught out by a well-laid false. It was not long after this that BGB was caught out again after foolishly following me into some high street or other. We ended up in an industrial estate on the wrong side of the wire fence to the actual trail. Had he followed me further he would have got through the well hidden hole in said fence, but in the event, he had to run all the way back round. Lost with 2Bob and Puddleduck and LeVoisin and Dribbler and Nutcracker and…well, rather a few, we eventually got over the railway and almost to the regroup when Bill, 2Bob and I were stopped in our tracks by the sight of Whinge and Gusset in the bushes with their trousers off! They had evidently been overcome by woodland lust and had repaired to the laurels for a quick one. This would certainly explain the red faces and breathlessness. Shaking our heads in disbelief we on-upped to the regroup atop a lofty mound where Chuck produced beer and fizzy water. Greenfly decided he needed a little more training and flitted down the hill for a quick circuit before cresting the rise once again like some ‘orrible sweaty aphid. Luckily Ladybird decided not to gobble him….if you, ah, see what I mean. I had a brief chat with Spex’s daughter who, when I asked her, told me her name was Heidi. The poor girl was obviously too embarrassed to give me her real name. But then who likes telling a total stranger your name is Skidmark!

We cascaded off the knoll and started some slightly harder hill running. I had just managed to catch up with C5 and Cloggs who, I understood later, were talking about skiing. Unfortunately, I reached them just at the point where Cloggs stated she had had …"a right big dump at Christmas and nothing since". Despite our weakened state both C5 and I nearly fell in a bush laughing. I must remember to bring a large bottle of syrup of figs next week.

RAs C5 and The Whale awarded the deserving as follows:-